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Saturday, December 1, 2012

It makes perfect sense

What's a worthless, budget-busting streetcar line without some worthless, budget-busting artwork to go with it? These are the people for whom the City of Portland is going to try to collect a $35-a-year head tax from us. What a waste.

Thanks for the reminder of the bizarre two percent tax added to these projects. However, don't forget the even more outdated 'tax' that adds over 20% to the cost of every single government project. Since the 1930's, Oregon's own 'little' Davis-Bacon Act clone has been helping bust budgets for three generations.

This city has such terrible budgeting priorities. They blow $700,000 on that monstrosity when there are so many better uses for the money. If you have money for that, please don't keep asking me to raise my taxes.

I was ready to write long ago when they foolishly first took away the turn lane as it significantly affects traffic flow (but I'm sure the city justified it in terms of safety. The "artwork" just compounds the the folly.

Stuff like this is often called “plop art” that often is more like overpriced junk art, but what is it?
1) An artist’s rendition of Sammyboy’s wired empty brain.
2) Something just to distract drivers and cause more crashes.
3) A burned out old building representative of the burned out electrical distributor just a couple of blocks towards the river.
4) All of the above.

Egh, for the cost of two brand new buses that would lower TriMet's operating expense (due to improved reliability and lower fuel consumption compared to TriMet's current bus fleet) we can have a massive piece of art that does nothing to improve, encourage or promote transit, but uses transportation capital dollars, requires maintenance (thus an operating expense that does not current exist), and is paid for by regional taxpayers (through TriMet's $10 million regional subsidy to the City of Portland Streetcar system) that thus reduces available funding for regional transit service.

For "art", on a streetcar line that exists where multiple bus lines already exist, and does not need a Streetcar line as it is already more than well-served by transit.

But, if you live on North Fremont, enjoy that new transfer, since TriMet will no longer route your bus to downtown. Or if you live in the Maplewood neighborhood, too bad if you want to get to work outside of "weekday rush hours". There's art that needs to be installed downtown, and your bus is the sacrificial lamb to pay for it.

Art represents the collective consciousness. To me this represents our understanding that we are living in a disconstructionist period- the Portand of the near future.

Sad, really sad. If we learn from this and change our future, $700,000 is a bargain. I am not sensing we have reached critical mass yet, so expect a lot more of this urban blight before we transpire to urban bright.

Shannon, you hVe to be careful about letting in the public on naming issues, because the public tends to be more perceptive than the politicians allowing the voting. I'm reminded of the big foofarol made by the Wisconsin Legislature about looking for a replacement for "America's Dairland" on its license plates. The contest was ended rather rapidly when the public favorite, by a six-to-one margin, was "Eat Cheese And Die".

portland native,
I also read those comments. Unfortunately, this and along with the head tax I believe is going to cast much negativity towards artists and the art scene. I was opposed to the art tax for several reasons including the collection aspect. It would be interesting to find out what funds will reach artists and students, and in this project how many dollars will remain in our local economy?

Now we get to look like Detroit. A harbinger of what's to come perhaps, or just a statement of the dystopia of the creative class being stacked and packed into the "sustainable" city? Really, this work points out how transient ALL of our creations and concepts of the future are subject to obsolescence. The Smart Growth folks who want to go back to the 19th century should look at this hulk and see their future in it and then get on with life in the real world. A great homage to the hubris of the "smartness" of our times.

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 113
At this date last year: 155
Total run in 2016: 155
In 2015: 271
In 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269